IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v118y2022icp33-43.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Usage-based road pricing and potential equity issues: A study of commuters in South East Queensland, Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Sen, Suman
  • Charles, Michael B.
  • Harrison, Jennifer L.

Abstract

Usage-based pricing has gained significant traction in recent times with respect to addressing transport challenges. Since such pricing is still in its infancy, at least in the context of urban transport, it is important to understand its implications and, to be specific, any potential equity issues. Based on a hypothetical usage-based pricing scheme together with 2009–2012 Household Travel Survey data of commuters residing in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia, the results indicate that usage-based road pricing will lead to both horizontal and vertical inequity for some commuters. Most importantly, a greater percentage of these commuters are already transport and socio-economically disadvantaged. They will have no choice but to compromise their quality of life and bear addition financial burdens in the absence of feasible travel alternatives. To ensure that these social costs do not outweigh the benefits, improving the quality of urban transport systems and its integration with urban form and land use, will be required. Until this is achieved, policy makers should incorporate some form of spatial and/or temporal variability within usage-based road pricing in the studied, and similar, urban contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Sen, Suman & Charles, Michael B. & Harrison, Jennifer L., 2022. "Usage-based road pricing and potential equity issues: A study of commuters in South East Queensland, Australia," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 33-43.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:118:y:2022:i:c:p:33-43
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2022.01.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X22000063
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2022.01.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandow, Erika, 2008. "Commuting behaviour in sparsely populated areas: evidence from northern Sweden," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 14-27.
    2. Maoh, Hanna & Tang, Zhongyuan, 2012. "Determinants of normal and extreme commute distance in a sprawled midsize Canadian city: evidence from Windsor, Canada," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 50-57.
    3. Manaugh, Kevin & Badami, Madhav G. & El-Geneidy, Ahmed M., 2015. "Integrating social equity into urban transportation planning: A critical evaluation of equity objectives and measures in transportation plans in North America," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 167-176.
    4. Bhat, Chandra R., 2015. "A comprehensive dwelling unit choice model accommodating psychological constructs within a search strategy for consideration set formation," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 161-188.
    5. Vonk Noordegraaf, Diana & Annema, Jan Anne & van Wee, Bert, 2014. "Policy implementation lessons from six road pricing cases," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 172-191.
    6. Axisa, Jeffrey J. & Scott, Darren M. & Bruce Newbold, K., 2012. "Factors influencing commute distance: a case study of Toronto’s commuter shed," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 123-129.
    7. El-Geneidy, Ahmed & Levinson, David & Diab, Ehab & Boisjoly, Genevieve & Verbich, David & Loong, Charis, 2016. "The cost of equity: Assessing transit accessibility and social disparity using total travel cost," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 302-316.
    8. Liu, Peng & Liao, Feixiong & Tian, Qiong & Huang, Hai-Jun & Timmermans, Harry, 2020. "Day-to-day needs-based activity-travel dynamics and equilibria in multi-state supernetworks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 208-227.
    9. Currie, Graham, 2010. "Quantifying spatial gaps in public transport supply based on social needs," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 31-41.
    10. Janet Stanley & John Stanley, 2017. "The Importance of Transport for Social Inclusion," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 108-115.
    11. Bun Song Lee & John F. McDonald, 2003. "Determinants of Commuting Time and Distance for Seoul Residents: The Impact of Family Status on the Commuting of Women," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(7), pages 1283-1302, June.
    12. Yusak Susilo & Kees Maat, 2007. "The influence of built environment to the trends in commuting journeys in the Netherlands," Transportation, Springer, vol. 34(5), pages 589-609, September.
    13. Velaga, Nagendra R. & Pangbourne, Kate, 2014. "Achieving genuinely dynamic road user charging: issues with a GNSS-based approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 243-253.
    14. Jan Rouwendal & Peter Nijkamp, 2004. "Living in Two Worlds: A Review of Home‐to‐Work Decisions," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 287-303, September.
    15. Rouwendal, Jan & Verhoef, Erik T., 2006. "Basic economic principles of road pricing: From theory to applications," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 106-114, March.
    16. Yogi Vidyattama & Robert Tanton & Binod Nepal, 2013. "The Effect of Transport Costs on Housing-related Financial Stress in Australia," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(9), pages 1779-1795, July.
    17. Daniel J. Graham & Stephen Glaister, 2003. "Road Traffic Demand Elasticity Estimates: A Review," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 261-274, April.
    18. Plaut, Pnina O., 2006. "The intra-household choices regarding commuting and housing," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 561-571, August.
    19. Balbontin, Camila & Hensher, David A. & Collins, Andrew T., 2017. "Do familiarity and awareness influence voting intention: The case of road pricing reform?," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 11-27.
    20. Kevin Manaugh & Luis Miranda-Moreno & Ahmed El-Geneidy, 2010. "The effect of neighbourhood characteristics, accessibility, home–work location, and demographics on commuting distances," Transportation, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 627-646, July.
    21. de Palma, André & Kilani, Moez & Lindsey, Robin, 2005. "Congestion pricing on a road network: A study using the dynamic equilibrium simulator METROPOLIS," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(7-9), pages 588-611.
    22. Zax, Jeffrey S., 1994. "When is a move a migration?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 341-360, June.
    23. Suman Sen & Michael B. Charles & Michael A. Kortt, 2019. "Australian Passenger Vehicle Classification and Distance‐Based Charging: Current Practices and the Way Forward," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 38(1), pages 1-14, March.
    24. Benoît Cornut & Jean-Loup Madre, 2017. "A longitudinal perspective on car ownership and use in relation with income inequalities in the Paris metropolitan area," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 227-244, March.
    25. Cipriani, Ernesto & Mannini, Livia & Montemarani, Barbara & Nigro, Marialisa & Petrelli, Marco, 2019. "Congestion pricing policies: Design and assessment for the city of Rome, Italy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 127-135.
    26. Floridea Di Ciommo & Yoram Shiftan, 2017. "Transport equity analysis," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 139-151, March.
    27. Chowdhury, Subeh & Ceder, Avishai (Avi) & Schwalger, Bradley, 2015. "The effects of travel time and cost savings on commuters’ decision to travel on public transport routes involving transfers," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 151-159.
    28. Karel Martens & Floridea Di Ciommo, 2017. "Travel time savings, accessibility gains and equity effects in cost–benefit analysis," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 152-169, March.
    29. De Borger, Bruno & Proost, Stef, 2012. "A political economy model of road pricing," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 79-92.
    30. Tian, Qiong & Liu, Peng & Ong, Ghim Ping & Huang, Hai-Jun, 2021. "Morning commuting pattern and crowding pricing in a many-to-one public transit system with heterogeneous users," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    31. Yuval Kantor & Peter Nijkamp & Jan Rouwendal, 2013. "Homeownership, Unemployment and Commuting Distances," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-144/VIII, Tinbergen Institute.
    32. Schwanen, Tim & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2005. "What if You Live in the Wrong Neighborhood? The Impact of Residential Neighborhood Type Dissonance on Distance Traveled," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt5hh713d6, University of California Transportation Center.
    33. David Levinson, 1998. "Accessibility and the Journey to Work," Working Papers 199802, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    34. de Palma, André & Lindsey, Robin & Proost, Stef, 2007. "Chapter 1 Investment and the use of tax and toll revenues in the transport sector: The research agenda," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 1-26, January.
    35. Morency, Catherine & Paez, Antonio & Roorda, Matthew J. & Mercado, Ruben & Farber, Steven, 2011. "Distance traveled in three Canadian cities: Spatial analysis from the perspective of vulnerable population segments," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 39-50.
    36. Foth, Nicole & Manaugh, Kevin & El-Geneidy, Ahmed M., 2013. "Towards equitable transit: examining transit accessibility and social need in Toronto, Canada, 1996–2006," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 1-10.
    37. Verhoef, Erik & Nijkamp, Peter & Rietveld, Piet, 1996. "Second-Best Congestion Pricing: The Case of an Untolled Alternative," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 279-302, November.
    38. S. Jaensirisak & M. Wardman & A. D. May, 2005. "Explaining Variations in Public Acceptability of Road Pricing Schemes," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 39(2), pages 127-154, May.
    39. Feixiong Liao & Bert van Wee, 2017. "Accessibility measures for robustness of the transport system," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(5), pages 1213-1233, September.
    40. Zhao, Pengjun & Zhang, Yixue, 2019. "The effects of metro fare increase on transport equity: New evidence from Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 73-83.
    41. Wijeweera, Albert & Charles, Michael B., 2013. "Determinants Of Passenger Rail Demand In Perth, Australia: A Time Series Analysis," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 13(2), pages 217-230.
    42. Tony Champion & Mike Coombes & David L. Brown, 2009. "Migration and Longer-Distance Commuting in Rural England," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(10), pages 1245-1259, December.
    43. Pyrialakou, V. Dimitra & Gkritza, Konstantina & Fricker, Jon D., 2016. "Accessibility, mobility, and realized travel behavior: Assessing transport disadvantage from a policy perspective," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 252-269.
    44. Alex Anas & Robin Lindsey, 2011. "Reducing Urban Road Transportation Externalities: Road Pricing in Theory and in Practice," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 5(1), pages 66-88, Winter.
    45. Rafael H. M. Pereira & Tim Schwanen & David Banister, 2017. "Distributive justice and equity in transportation," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 170-191, March.
    46. Bert Van Wee & Sabine Roeser, 2013. "Ethical Theories and the Cost--Benefit Analysis-Based Ex Ante Evaluation of Transport Policies and Plans," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(6), pages 743-760, November.
    47. Delbosc, Alexa & Currie, Graham, 2011. "Exploring the relative influences of transport disadvantage and social exclusion on well-being," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 555-562, August.
    48. Schweitzer, Lisa & Taylor, Brian D., 2010. "Just Road Pricing," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt12j406q5, University of California Transportation Center.
    49. Theodore Tsekeris & Stefan Voß, 2009. "Design and evaluation of road pricing: state-of-the-art and methodological advances," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 5-52, April.
    50. Chang, Tang-Hsien & Tseng, Jen-Sung & Hsieh, Tung-Hung & Hsu, Yu-Ting & Lu, Ying-Chih, 2018. "Green transportation implementation through distance-based road pricing," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 53-64.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yaping Li & Zheng Liu & Shiqing Zhang, 2023. "Joint Impacts of Pricing Strategies and Persuasive Information on Habitual Automobile Commuters’ Travel Mode Shift Responses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Zhou, Chang & Tian, Qiong & Wang, David Z.W., 2022. "A novel control strategy in mitigating bus bunching: Utilizing real-time information," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-13.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2021. "Two-way commuting: Asymmetries from time use surveys," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    2. Zhao, Pengjun & Cao, Yushu, 2020. "Commuting inequity and its determinants in Shanghai: New findings from big-data analytics," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 20-37.
    3. Linovski, Orly & Baker, Dwayne Marshall & Manaugh, Kevin, 2018. "Equity in practice? Evaluations of equity in planning for bus rapid transit," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 75-87.
    4. Linovski, Orly & Manaugh, Kevin & Baker, Dwayne Marshall, 2022. "The route not taken: Equity and transparency in unfunded transit proposals," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 77-84.
    5. Isabelle Wachter & Christian Holz-Rau, 2022. "Gender differences in work-related high mobility differentiated by partnership and parenthood status," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1737-1764, December.
    6. Novak, D.C. & Sullivan, J.F. & Sentoff, K. & Dowds, J., 2020. "A framework to guide strategic disinvestment in roadway infrastructure considering social vulnerability," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 436-451.
    7. Jomehpour Chahar Aman, Javad & Smith-Colin, Janille, 2020. "Transit Deserts: Equity analysis of public transit accessibility," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Xiaoshu Cao & Huiling Chen & Feiwen Liang & Wulin Wang, 2018. "Measurement and Spatial Differentiation Characteristics of Transit Equity: A Case Study of Guangzhou, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    9. Costa, Cayo & Ha, Jaehyun & Lee, Sugie, 2021. "Spatial disparity of income-weighted accessibility in Brazilian Cities: Application of a Google Maps API," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    10. Pereira, Rafael H.M., 2019. "Future accessibility impacts of transport policy scenarios: Equity and sensitivity to travel time thresholds for Bus Rapid Transit expansion in Rio de Janeiro," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 321-332.
    11. Mitra, Suman K. & Saphores, Jean-Daniel M., 2019. "Why do they live so far from work? Determinants of long-distance commuting in California," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    12. Weckström, Christoffer & Kujala, Rainer & Mladenović, Miloš N. & Saramäki, Jari, 2019. "Assessment of large-scale transitions in public transport networks using open timetable data: case of Helsinki metro extension," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-1.
    13. Jean-Philippe Meloche, 2019. "Towards a New Era in Road Pricing? Lessons from the Experience of First Movers," CIRANO Working Papers 2019s-35, CIRANO.
    14. Claire, Papaix & Dupont-Kieffer, Ariane & Palmier, Patrick, 2022. "Potential accessibility to the workplace by public transit and its social distribution in Lille, France: A scenario-based equity appraisal," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 256-266.
    15. Belloc, Ignacio, 2021. "El tiempo de desplazamiento al lugar de trabajo en el Reino Unido: Diferencias entre asalariados y autoempleados [Commuting time in the United Kingdom: Differences between wage-earners and self-emp," MPRA Paper 108260, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Cui, Boer & Boisjoly, Geneviève & El-Geneidy, Ahmed & Levinson, David, 2019. "Accessibility and the journey to work through the lens of equity," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 269-277.
    17. J. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina, 2016. "Commuting Time And Household Responsibilities: Evidence Using Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 332-359, March.
    18. Nazari Adli, Saeid & Donovan, Stuart, 2018. "Right to the city: Applying justice tests to public transport investments," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 56-65.
    19. Martin A. Carree & Kristin Kronenberg, 2014. "Locational Choices and the Costs of Distance: Empirical Evidence for Dutch Graduates," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 420-435, October.
    20. Tao, Sui & Cheng, Long & He, Sylvia & Witlox, Frank, 2023. "Examining the non-linear effects of transit accessibility on daily trip duration: A focus on the low-income population," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:118:y:2022:i:c:p:33-43. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.